Enjoy your Coffee and Fight Breast Cancer

I started drinking coffee because of breast cancer. After treatment I knew my brain wasn’t functioning quite as acutely as before the diagnosis, so coffee gave me the added ability to focus. I later learned that coffee was helping to address the effects of chemo brain. Now there are other reasons for breast cancer survivors to drink coffee. A study out of Sweden this month finds that women who are on the drug Tamoxifen and drink at least two cups of coffee a day have a reduced risk of recurrence of the disease.

This was a pretty extensive study of 600 women over a 5 year period. CBS reported this wethat researchers found the risk of recurrence reduced by half in women who had been taking the drug Tamoxifen and drinking 2 or more cups of coffee a day. Woo hoo! I drank at least two cups of coffee a day while on the drug Tamoxifen. What I haven’t been able to find out however is if the effects are only while you are on the drug Tamoxifen or if they are long term after completion of the hormonal therapy.

The problem for me with many of the studies, regardless of how exciting the results are, is that the findings are mostly relational. This means that there is a relationship between women who take the drug Tamoxifen, drink coffee and a reduced risk. It doesn’t show any causal effects; there is nothing to prove or show how this combination works to reduce the risk. I am sure that researchers are now working on their theory that coffee somehow improves or enhances the effects of Tamoxifen.

Tamoxifen is one drug I stand behind as a survivor and nurse. I have looked at the documentation for this drug as well as used it myself and I am convinced that the benefits are truly there for women threatened by breast cancer. Its effects as a hormonal treatment after chemotherapy and/or radiation are well proven. It is known to inhibit estrogen receptors and reduce breast cancer and cancer recurrence.

I honestly did not drink coffee until after a breast cancer diagnosis, and even then it wasn’t until I was trying to find a way to stay focused at work later in the day. Coffee still works as a stimulant for my brain to function and now I enjoy the coziness of drinking a morning cup of coffee while reading my bible and doing devotions. Coffee has become part of a comfortable routine for me as well in the afternoons as I drink my Tim Horton’s drive through coffee on the way to my afternoon shift. I am happy to note the it is now and has been an effective part of my post breast cancer vigilance.

At a time when we are worried about what we eat and drink, it is nice to know we can enjoy our cup of coffee and relax in the knowledge that we are reducing our risk for breast cancer.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathy-Ellen Kups, RN

Kathy-Ellen is a Registered Nurse living in Michigan. In 2003, Kathy-Ellen was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. She was cancer-free from April 2004 until December of 2013 when it was discovered that...read more